Open flame heating unit with combus-



Feb. 7, 1956 c. E. GoULDlNG, sR

OPEN FLAME HEATING UNIT WITH COMBUSTION AIR PREHEATING MEANS Filed May 15. 1953 [IIIHM INVENTOR. arles E. Gallld ATTE! RN EYB l' United States Patent OPEN FLAME HEATING UNIT WITH-COMBUS- TION AIR VPREIFII-LATIING MEANS g Charles E` Gouldiug, Sr., Tampa, Fla.v Application May 15, 1953,SerialfNo. 355,335 Y l i 1 claim. (Crus- 121) This invention relates to a burner or heating unit.V The object of the invention is to provide a heating unit which utilizes preheated air for supporting combustion of i the fuel and wherein the fuel may be oil or gas.

. the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this Y l application, and in which like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout the same:

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the heating unit, constructed according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the heating unit.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the heating unit.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral designates a horizontally disposed base which may be made of any suitable material, and mounted on the base 10 is a hollow housing 11. The housing 11 includes a horizontally disposed top wall12, and an end wall 14 which has an air inlet pipe 16 extending therefrom. The pipe 16V is adapted to be connected to a source of supply of air under pressure. The wall 14 may also include an inclined section 15, Figure l.

The housing 11 further includes a vertically disposed end wall 17, and positioned within the housing is a plate 18 which is provided with a plurality of openings 19 for the passage therethrough of air. Arranged in spaced parallel relation with respect to the plate 1S is a vertically disposed baille 2i), the upper end of the baille 20 extending beyond the upper end of the plate 18. Thus, air

which is forced in through the pipe 16 will pass through the plurality of openings 19 and impinge on the baille 2.0, as shown by the arrows in Figure l, and this air will then pass up over the top of the baille 20 to be directed into heat contact or heat exchange with the end wall 17. The end wall 17 is heated by the burner llame as later described in this application so that the air before it enters the burner is preheated to insure that there will be more efficient combustion.

Extending from the lower end of the end wall 17 is an outlet pipe 21, and detachably connected to the outlet pipe 21 is a burner casing22. An end member 23 may be connected to the casing 22 and to a support member 28, and to a U-shaped frame 30 by suitable securing elements such as bolts or screws 24. Positioned within the casing 22 is a burner 25 which may have the same construction 'as the burner shown in my co-pending application Serial No. 348,927. The burner 25 may be provided with a plurality of apertures or openings 26, and a suitable conduit or pipe 27 leads from the burner ICC to asuitable -source ofgaseous or liquid fuel. A ring will pass through the openings 19 so that it will lbedistributed evenly on the bafile 20. The .air will then -pass upwardly .over-the vbaille 20 `and down through fthe passageway formed between the baille 20 and the end wall 17. As Vthis air moves downwardly Vit` will Ybe heated or preheated by the hot wall 17 so that the air will pass through the outlet pipe 21V and to the burner 25 in a preheated condition. Thus, the eiliciency vof the operation will be greatly increased. This invention uses preheated forced draft air and also includes the demountable burner casing 22. The plate or wall 17 receives heat from the flame produced by the burner 25 so as to preheat the draft air before it reaches the burner 25. The burner casing is constructed so that it can be readily removed or replaced without disturbing the other parts of the heater and the joint between the pipe 21 and the casing 22 isv provided to insure that there will be an airtight joint.

In use, llames from the burner casing 22 can be used to supply heat to any desired locality or object, as for example, the heat from the llames can be used for cooking purposes, or for heating a room, or the entire unit can be installed as part of a fireplace in a home or the like. Some of the heat from the llames will findV its way through the wall 17 by radiation or conduction to the lower end of the wall 20 as well as therest of the wall 20 so that the air which impinges against the various parts of the plates 20 will be preheated to make a more eillcient operation. The openings 19 thus permits some of the incoming air to Contact the plate 20 so that this air will be preheated before passing through the burner. The burner opens upwardly to produce an open llame above the burner to the wall 17. Thus, there will be an appreciable amount of heat at the lower end of the plate 20 and the burner opens upwardly to produce an open llame above the burner to heat the wall 17.

In operation the forced draft enters the housing 11 through the pipe 16 and is distributed uniformly over the baille 20. This air then passes upwardly and over the baillev 20 and then down throughthe duct or channel formed by the baille 20 and the end wall 17 and during this movement the air absorbs heat. The heated air then passes downwardly to the outlet pipe 21 and then into the burner carrier or casing 22 where it is used by the burner 25 for draft purposes. The hot surface of the wall 17 is kept hot by the heat radiated by the burner arne and the parts are constructed so that there will be a draft tight sliding t between the pipe 21 and the casing 22. The bolts 24 may be removed when the parts are to be disassembled as for cleaning or other purposes. The heat from the llames of the burner 25 causes the wall 17 to become hot and this in turn helps to pre-heat the air passing through the housing 11. The air coming into the housing 11 through the pipe 16 provides oxygen for supporting combustion in the burner 25, and bypre-heating the air the efficiency of ,the system willbe increased. The plate 18 has the openings 19 therein so that the incoming air will be evenly distributed onto the plate 20 whereby a more uniform and eillcient heating of the air will be elected.

I claim:

An open llame heating unit comprising a horizontally disposed base, a hollow housing mounted on said base and including an air inlet pipe spaced above said base, said housing further including a top wall arranged in spaced ensayos parallel relationV above said base, a first and second end wall arranged in spaced parallel relation with respect to each other, a vertically disposed plate positioned in said housing and provided with a pluralityv of'spaced openings, a baiiie arranged inA spaced parallel relation with respect to said plate and being of greater height than said plate, the tops of said baffle and plate being spaced below the topwall ofV said housing, said air inlet pipe extending from said first end wall at a level below the top of said plate, an air outlet pipe extending from the lower end of said second end wall and being of greater diameter' than said air inlet pipe, a casingv snugly engaging said outlet pipe, and a burner positioned in said casing and adapted toV receive pre-heated air from said outlet pipe, said burner having its upper end open whereby an open 4 liame may be produced above the burner and contiguous to the second end wall to heat said wall whereby the air passing through the housing to the burner is preheated, said burner being arranged contiguous to the end of said outlet pipe.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITEDV STATES PATENTS 

